Born on the Fourth of July - Lecture Notes

Marines in dress blue uniforms and shined shoes are seen as heroes.
Recruiters tell stories of the Marine Corps' exciting history, undefeated status, and being first in everything.
Recruiters emphasize service on distant shores and answering the country's call.
The phrase "There is nothing finer, prouder than a United States memory" is used.
Recruiters target 18-year-old boys, telling them what they want to hear.
Afterward, boys eagerly meet and shake hands with the recruiters, viewing them as John Wayne and Audie Murphy figures.
The Marine Corps aims to build men in body, mind, and spirit.
Adolescent boys struggle to distinguish reality from media portrayals, now often influenced by video games.

Drill instructors establish authority: "Your souls today may belong to God, but your asses belong to the United States Marine Corps."
The Marine Corps is portrayed as having hostility towards women in the military.
For women in the US military, the biggest danger is often from within their own units.
Recruits are conditioned to be killers; otherwise, they are considered "stumps, maggots, worthless, sweet little ladies."
Recruits are rewired and re-educated to be killers.

In a scene from mid-'91, sergeants ridicule recruits for crying, symbolizing weakness.
The sergeants' message: "We want you people to cry like little babies because that's all you maggots are. You are nothing."
This scene foreshadows later events in the book.

Chapter four shifts to after boot camp, with the protagonist in a wheelchair back in the US.
Older veterans want younger veterans to march in parades to ensure their sacrifices weren't in vain.
The idea emerges that a country stays in war due to the desire to avenge the wounded and dead.
This creates a cycle of vindictiveness, making wars difficult to stop as both sides seek retribution.

Compare personal experiences of male-female relations with those portrayed in the provided material, providing specific examples.
Discuss contradictions within American culture as portrayed in "Born on the Fourth of July," relating them to recent wars and personal observations, providing specific examples.

The instructor expresses reliance on student engagement and presence in class.
The protagonist lies in his own excrement, neglected, and reflects on hippies and draft card burners deserving punishment.
The anti-war protesters are protesting the leaders sending young men to war.

The protagonist's shift from wearing a tie and sweater to embracing a more counter-cultural appearance after starting college in 1968 is highlighted.
Joining Vietnam Veterans Against the War is portrayed as a passionate decision, driven by anger.
The protagonist's anger is a driving force, which he is attempting to process.

The protagonist protests the war at the Republican National Convention and is arrested while in a wheelchair.
The protest is shut down leading to multiple arrests.

The protagonist's initial desire to be a hero in combat contrasts with his later use of his soldier/hero status to advocate against the war.
The content has reversed 180 degrees, but it's the same process.

The protagonist confesses to his officers about killing children in a hut, which is ignored. The floor of the small hut was covered with them, screaming and crashing their arms back and forth, lying in pools of blood, crying wildly, screaming again and again. They were shot in the face, in the chest, in the legs, moaning and crying. There's an old man in the corner with his head blown off with his eyes rolled up.
The lieutenant tells the soldiers to stop crying, reinforcing their role as marine killers.

The My Lai Massacre is referenced as a clear example of such events, where US soldiers killed Vietnamese civilians.
A helicopter pilot, Thompson, intervened to stop the massacre and was later recognized as a hero.
Only one officer was punished, receiving a light sentence, leading to a sense of impunity.

The protagonist describes a crazy and simple tactical maneuver where him and his soldiers would attack a village.
The protagonist wants to prove he is courageous in order to receive a medal.
It's not what's inside of you that matters. It's what you can show up to people that you're a hero.
The protagonist is firing in a tree line when his troop has killed children and old people. the rockets and guided missiles and drones to attack people in different places around one person we wanna kill. And then we find out from the Red Cross that they killed 50 children.
It's bullshit to say were not to blame because you didn't mean to.
The war has finally caught up with his body as he's been shot. It felt good inside. The war had finally caught up with my body.
The wound is considered a "million-dollar wound."
The protagonist wants to be a hero but there are lots of people that do not want to be a hero.

There were more people who did not wan to be heroes. And they grew up in the same environment at the same time. When I talk to you about contradictions, that's continually.
People continually argue about what the culture tells them is right.
Concept of right is; do the right thing. Wrong is don't do the wrong thing.
People who say shit like that don't know what they're talking about. They're talking about their own experience, not somebody else's.

The rifle was full of sand and it was jammed.
He had to pull the bolt back each time trying to get a round into the chamber.
As he was getting up, a 30 caliber slug tore through my right shoulder, blasted through my lung, and smashed my spinal cord.
The protagonist explains why he is there, and when shot doesn't turn around and go home. He has been taught not to.
Observation: I was frightened to death. I didn't think about praying. All I could feel was cheating.
"There are no atheists in foxholes" expression and disproval from the professor.
The professor was in danger many times, and never prayed.
First catapult shot with the aircraft carrier, I heard a cold cat shot. I'm gonna die.
All their focus was on saving their skin.
I leave you with this thought that we like to generalize and stay stoff like there's no atheist in Vauxhall. That that's part of our culture.
But the people who say shit like that don't know what they're talking about. They're talking about their own experience, not somebody else's.